Year Honored: 1992
Birth: 1943 -
Born in: Georgia
Biography
Claire Lamar Carey was born in Georgia and moved to Delaware after earning chemistry degrees from Fisk University and a master’s in chemistry from Ohio University. She moved to Delaware during the fair housing crisis and lived in YWCA Housing in Wilmington in 1965. She was the first black woman hired as a chemist at Hercules Inc, where she worked for 38 years. Aside from research chemist, Carey also held positions in research and development, human resources, information technology, and public relations. When she retired, she was a Corporate Executive Senior Manager.
Through the YWCA she met Harmon R. Carey while volunteering as a girls’ basketball coach in the 1960s. Harmon Carey served as the director of the People’s Settlement in Wilmington. The two married, and their son, Dr. Roderick Lamar Carey is a professor at the University of Delaware.
Carey has a long history at the YWCA, as she served as Board President during the YWCA’s planning and capital campaign. She also chaired its housing advisory committee during “long range planning,” and served on the National Board from 1991 to 1997. During her tenure there, she also took on the role of National Vice President for the board.
After retiring from Hercules, Carey became the director of the Black Achiever’s Program at the YMCA of Delaware. The program pairs high school youth with successful ‘adult achievers who serve as mentors and role models to “help instill values of caring and pride.” She worked at the program for over 15 years and is “highly regarded for her intense and continuous work with youth and teens.” Over 400 of her students have gone on to pursue higher education.
Carey is also a three-time appointee to the Governor’s Committee for Magistrate screening, which has allowed her to help increase the number of women and minorities who serve as magistrates in the state. She has also volunteered to manage the MIND Scholarship and Internship program for Hercules (Minorities in Development), the Achiever’s Program sponsored by Links, Inc., and a 12-year tenure as graduate advisor to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at the University of Delaware.
Carey has been honored with the Delaware Region of the National Conference of Christians and Jews Award (1997); Outstanding Young Women in American (Volumes 1975 and 1976); YWCA Minority Achiever in Industry Award (1976); Brandywine Professional Association Outstanding Achiever in Industry Award (1985); recognized by the Girl Scouts of America; recipient of the Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award for Service from her alma mater Fisk University during her 50th reunion; and recognized as a Great Woman in History by the Executive Office of New Castle County.
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Sources and Additional Readings
Bio Claire Lamar Carey - Homepage | YWCA Delaware. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://www.ywcade.org/homepage/events/breakfast-celebration/bio-claire-lamar-carey/
University of Delaware. Library. Special Collections. (2018, August 13). Interview with Harmon and Claire Lamar Carey, 2018 August 13. UDSpace Home. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/23890
- Collections: 1992, Black History Month